Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I just had a lunch of SV carnita tacos al pastor. All I can say is wow. Unbelievably good, and not at all greasy like some carnitas can be. I'm in love.

Amy

I picked up a very nice Tamworth shoulder (fattier and tastier then newer breeds) at the market recently to make some carnitas with. Last time I did it in the PC ala MC, but this time I do want to do it SV. Gonna have to start looking around for recipes. I *love* carnitas.

I made a marinade with my VM using the following:

2-3 cups water
3 ancho chilis dried
3 guajillo chilies dried
1/4 fresh pineapple
1 chipotle chili in adobo
1 tbs adobo sauce
1/2 onion
8 cloves garlic
juice of one lime
1 tbs kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried oregano

I seeded and toasted the chilis then soaked them in about 3 cups of boiling water. I then VMed this with the rest of the ingredients (including the soaking liquid). I bagged it with the pork (which I had brined and cut into about 2" pieces) and cooked for about 24 hours at 160. I took the pork out of the bag, dried it and fried the pork in leaf lard. Once crisp (a short time frame) I added some of the jus from the bag and reduced. Heated some corn tortillas, filled with carnitas, topped with fresh pineapple, cilantro, salsa verde and queso fresco. Divine.

Amy

I just put a batch of this in the bath tonight. Really look forward to tasting it!

Tip for others: A warm marinade boils in the chamber vac much much faster than you think it will. Much. And, when there is lots, it can come out of the mouth of the bag fairly violently. An easy to clean machine is a good thing; thank god the commercial ones seem very cleaning friendly.

lol...I hear ya.

I was in a rush for a catering event last Saturday and created a mess of my vacuum chamber after sealing my shaking beef (which had just come out of the wok). it was an hors d'oeurves served in lettuce cups. Thankfully, Andy cleaned the chamber vacuum after I left for the gig.

Amy